Keeper Of The Lost Cities From The Perspective Of Fitz Vacker
by Gracekknight
Summary: The first Keeper of the Lost Cities book by Shannon Messenger had many exciting twists and turns in it for Sophie Foster, the long lost elf, but what was the experience like for Fitz Vacker? Find out in my story!
1. Chapter 1

Fitz Vacker stepped out of the grand doors of Everglen with yesterdays San Diego newspaper in his hand. He raised his head towards the gates of his home with a look of determination on his face. He knew this would be the day the search for the missing elf ended. The mission his father, Alden, had been on for twelve years. He looked down at a picture of a girl on the second page of the newspaper. He narrowed his teal eyes and knew she had to be an elf. _The_ elf, rather.

Alden had found an article about a twelve year old prodigy at a San Diego high school. The fact that she was exactly twelve and very smart by human standards was enough evidence for Fitz. He believed it was worth looking into at least, even though Alden had his doubts. Fitz took a few steps forward when he heard the door open and Alden walked out onto the path. Fitz turned to his father with a grin.

"I have a good feeling about this one, dad." He said smirking.

"I know you do, Fitz." Alden said seriously. "Use your Telepathy carefully, keep that newspaper with you, and don't get hopes up too high, please. It could just be another girl in another city."

Fitz took his blue Pathfinder that had been rolled up in the newspaper.

"I know," he said as he held it up to the gleaming sunlight. "Or it could be our missing elf" He raised his head to the Pathfinder and glittered away.

Fitz let out a cough as his lungs adjusted to the polluted air of the forbidden city. He looked around the dumpster he had appeared behind. Across the street was the National History Museum of San Diego

"Gotcha," he whispered to himself as he spotted a petite blond girl climbing the steps with her classmates to the doors of the museum.

Looking both ways Fitz ran across the street and sprinted up the steps to the doors. He slipped through and look up with wide eyes around the monstrous room. He stepped forward with his eyes still scanning the room when a hand went out and grabbed his shoulder. Fitz turned to see a security guard starring back at him with intense eyes.

"Admission," He said with little emotion.

"Excuse me?" Fitz replied confused. Almost forgetting to use English rather than the elves' Enlightened language.

"Admission," The guard repeated. "It's eight dollars kid. You pay the attendant over there."

He pointed to a desk. An elderly women with white hair and round glasses was behind it.

"Oh," Fitz said with a shy smile. "Sorry about that." He turned towards the desk when the security guard placed his hand on his shoulder again.

"Hey kid, where you from?" He must have noticed Fitz's British sounding accent. "England?" He asked.

"Uh, yeah" He replied not wanting anymore conversation he headed to the desk and payed his admission fee with the American dollars Alden had given him for this trip to San Diego.

Fitz searched for the high school group he had seen when he came in. He casually walked over to an Albertosaurus display and leaned against the wall next to it. He spotted the high schoolers and looked for the short blond girl. He could see her from behind and that the teacher was making her talk in front of the group. The group started walking his way. Fitz thought quick and held his newspaper up to read it so no one would get suspicious of him. He looked at the article about the girl. Her name was Sophie Foster, he hadn't noticed her name before. It was so human. He couldn't imagine an elf with the name of Sophie. But then again, he couldn't really blame her for her name.

Fitz's teal eyes peaked over the edge of the newspaper and he saw the blond girl, Sophie, lagging in the back of the group. He lowered the paper and met eyes with her.

Brown.

How could they be brown? He was so sure! And yet there they were. Sophie Foster had brown eyes. It was a pretty brown with little flecks of gold in them. But what didn't make sense was that every other elf had blue eyes. Blue of all different shades. But never brown.

Fitz's eyes focused on the girl again and she looked very uncomfortable. Was he starring? Fitz smiled and tried to shake off the awkwardness.

"Is this you?" He asked stepping forward.

She nodded yet still looked confused.

"I thought so." He said and looked back at the newspaper. "I didn't realize your eyes were brown." Fitz tried not to frown.

"Uh... yeah. Why?" She asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"No reason." He said shrugging. Now he realized why she looked so uncomfortable. It must be weird having a total stranger talk about your eyes. He obviously looked suspicious.

"Are you in this class?" She asked gesturing to the high schoolers gazing at the dinosaur skeletons.

He grinned at her "No," He replied. Fitz pointed to the display that was beside them.

"Tell me something." He said. " Do you really think they looked like this? It's a little absurd isn't it?" Because he lived in the Lost Elven Cities Fitz knew exactly what every one of the creatures in the museum looked like. There was every animal imaginable in the Lost Cities, known to humans or not. But he was curious what a human thought.

Sophie looked surprised by the question. "No, not really." She said gazing at the Albetosaurous.

"Why? What do you think they looked like?"

"Never mind," He said with a laugh. "I'll let you get back to your class. It was nice meeting you Sophie."

Fitz turned to leave when a group of young children ran between him and Sophie. Their blaring thoughts entered his mind and made him wince. As a Telepath he could hear the thoughts of other elves whenever he wanted, but human thoughts were harder to block from his mind.

Fitz walked forward towards the exit and looked back to find Sophie rubbing her temples with a look of pain written across her face. She looked up at Fitz and they locked eyes. Fitz could see the panic on her face and knew something was up.

"Did you just... hear that?" He almost whispered the question to her. Was she a Telepath? Could she really be an elf after all?

Fitz watched Sophie's eyes widen with the realization that he was talking about the children's thoughts. She gasped. Taking a step back she asked "Who are you?"

Fitz's eyes widened. " You did - didn't you?" He leaned close to her and in a hushed voice he asked "Are you a Telepath?"

Sophie took a step back and her jaw slacked. By the look on her face Fitz already knew the answer.

"You are!" He said with a smile on his face. "I can't believe it." His thoughts raced. The missing elven girl! She was right here! He was right about her! What was Alden going to say?

Sophie began to back away slowly. A look of fear was on her face. Fitz thought about how she must feel. She had never met another Telepath before. She hadn't even met another elf before.

"It's okay." He said trying to sooth her. "You don't have to be afraid. I'm one too."

Sophie stopped and Fitz took a few steps forward.

"My name's Fitz." He said as he took another step. He tried to think of something reassuring to say. Something that would calm her down.

"I'm not joking." Was all he could come up with.

Sophie looked uneasy. She almost looked ready to faint. Fitz reached out and gripped her arms to hold her steady. He waited until she met his eyes.

"It's okay, Sophie." He said keeping his voice steady as he looked into her golden brown eyes. "We've been looking for you for twelve years." Fear and confusion clouded her eyes as he said it. Sophie looked at the door, then back at him. She pulled her arms free from Fitz's grip and ran for the exit.


	2. Chapter 2

**So here's chapter two! Okay btw this story will not be following exactly what Shannon wrote the whole time, it's just starting off so you will see more differences later on. Hope you like it and please tell me what you think so far!**

Fitz let out a long frustrated sigh and picked up his feet to follow after Sophie. Sophie raced out the door and he was soon behind her in the ash-filled air of outside. He was surprised at how fast she could run, but he knew he could beat her with more age, skill, and muscle. They were heading down the side walk towards an intersection.

"Sophie, come back!" He called after her. She picked up her pace and Fitz was forced to run faster.

"Wait!" He shouted with urgency. "You don't have to be afraid!" He was needing to catch his breath. The polluted air made it harder for him to breathe.

Fitz continued running as Sophie turned onto the crosswalk. He ran past a few cars parked on the side of the street. As he rushed behind the cars he heard the screech of car breaks and the loud thud of metal against metal. When he had passed the cars he saw Sophie. She was using her mind to keep a streetlight from falling on her. A car had hit the poll and it was going to fall on her but she had stopped it with an invisible force. He rushed over to her.

"Put it down," Fitz said sternly. He must have surprised her because she shrieked and the streetlight began to fall again. "Watch out!" He yelled as he pulled her from beneath the falling poll and they both fell to the ground. He heard the lantern shatter onto the pavement sending shards of glittering glass around them.

Sophie had landed on top of Fitz. He starred at her with wide eyes. They stayed that way for a moment and he realized her eyes were beautiful. The blue eyes of the elves had become mundane. Her blond hair made them seem so bright and alive.

He replayed what had just happened in his mind. "We need to get away from here." He said as he tilted his head in the direction of the car driver who had missed hitting Sophie by mere inches. The man's eyes were wide at what he had just witnessed.

She nodded as she sat up.

Sophie lead the way. Fitz thought about what he was going to tell her as they ran. How much she should know about the elven world right now? He couldn't help but feel guilty. He knew she needed answers, but he wasn't even supposed to talk to her at all. He knew Alden would not like what he had to tell him when he got home.

They slowed to a walk as they came to a zoo parking lot. Sophie looked relieved when she saw people around. He had just _saved her life_. Couldn't she see he was here to help? Not kidnap her! He turned away and rolled his eyes at how dramatic she was being.

They both stopped to catch their breath. Sophie finally asked "So what do you want?"

"I'm her to help you," He said becoming serious. "I promise."

She raised an eyebrow at this and tugged at her eyelashes. She seemed very skeptical, like she still thought this was all part of a big joke. Yet Fitz still saw the nervousness in her eyes.

"Why were you looking for me?" She asked.

He ran his hand through his dark hair as he thought. "I'm not sure if I'm supposed to tell you."

Sophie huffed. "How am I supposed to trust you if you won't even answer my questions?"

Fitz thought for a moment and decided the best thing to do would be to tell her the truth. What else could he do? He couldn't leave her with the information she already had. She would call the police, surly, and he did not want to get in a mess with the human police.

He sighed "Okay, fine – but I don't know much. My father sent me to find you. We've been looking for a specific girl your age, and I was supposed to observe and report back to him, like always. I wasn't supposed to talk to you. I just couldn't figure you out." he said. "You don't make sense."

"What does _that_ mean?" She asked. Fitz thought what he just said probably sounded offending. He tried to think of what he could say to make it better.

"It means you're . . . different from what I expected. Your eyes really threw me off." He said and quickly wished he hadn't. That must have sounded even _more_ offending.

Her hands went up beside them. "What's wrong with my eyes?"

Yep, totally offending, he decided.

"We all have blue eyes." He tried to explain. "So when I saw them, I figured we had the wrong girl again. But we didn't." He smiled. "You're really one of us." He breathed. Fitz still couldn't believe he actually found _the_ girl.

Sophie held up her hands before he could say more.

"Whoa. Hang on." She insisted. "What do you mean 'one of us'?"

Fitz pulled her over to the far end of the lot and slipped behind a car. He looked around the corner of the vehicle before explaining.

"Okay – there's no easy way of explaining this, so I'm just going to say it." He told her. He closed his eyes and let out breath then looked back at her. "We aren't human, Sophie."

Fitz tried to continue to explain what he meant but nothing he said would convince her. She had proven she could use both telepathy _and_ telekinesis yet still thought she was a normal human. He was getting a little frustrated with this girl practically accusing him of being crazy.

"Sophie, you're an elf." He finally told her after delaying what obviously she needed to be told.

She raised her eyebrow again. "An elf," She echoed. She smiled and let out a giggle.

"You don't believe me." He concluded.

"Do you really expect me to?" She asked still smiling from what he had told her.

Fitz hadn't thought that he would have to convince her that she was an elf. But now that he really considered the problem it made sense.

"I guess not." He confessed. How was he supposed to do this. He wasn't even supposed to be having this conversation with her.

A thought came to him. The wheels turned it his head as he thought through the consequences of his idea. It was defiantly going to get him in _huge_ trouble, but it was all he could come up with. Plus he knew it would totally impress this know-it-all Sophie.

"Would it help if I showed you?" He asked hoping he could convince her.

"Oh, sure - this ought to be good." She said sarcastically.

She folded her arms and leaned onto one hip in the classic "Yeah, right" pose.

Fitz pulled his blue pathfinder out from his leg pocket. He held the thin intricate object before her.

"Is that your magic wand?" She asked.

Again with the sarcastic comments. He rolled his eyes.

"Actually, it's a pathfinder." He turned it in his hand and the blue crystal at the top shimmered in the sunshine.

He told her that she had to hold his hand and concentrate on the connection between them.

"Do you want proof or not?" He asked when she hesitated.

She thought for a moment and Fitz gave her time to consider. He knew this would change her life forever. Sophie had lived with humans her whole life. It was all she knew. The transition she was going to go through would defiantly be difficult, and she didn't even know what was coming. Finally she reached her hand out to his and her delicate fingers interlocked with his. He peeked around the car again and found no one near.

"Okay, we're alone. We go one three." He told her.

"What happens on three?" She asked nervously.

He turned his head and glared at her. She glared back. Fitz held back a smile and tried to focus. He held the pathfinder to the sunlight and began to count down.

"One," He said and took a deep breath.

"Two," He gripped Sophie's hand tighter. In that moment, the last moment she would believe she was human, the last moment she would doubt she was an elf, the last moment she was the lost elf hidden among humans, Fitz made a silent promise. A promise that no matter where they were, or what situation they were in, and no matter how dramatic she was being, he would be there for her. Even if he was the only one, Fitz would always be Sophie Foster's friend.

"Three." He closed his eyes and they were whisked away into the sunlight.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi guys! Soooo sorry I couldn't get this chapter out sooner. I've been having some computer problems and other things have been going on as well. The past two weeks have been SUPER crazy for me. I appreciate your patience and hopefully it won't take so long for the next chapter. If you like the story so far please go ahead and follow it. It means a lot! Also, feed back is great. Hope you enjoy chapter 3! :)**

Fitz eventually brought Sophie home after showing her Eternalia and leaped back to Foxfire, his school. He knew he was going to be late, but he didn't think it would be after lunch by the time he got back. But a lot had happened that morning. He was too late to get to his Elementlism class, so he just headed for his locker in the level four wing. As he walked he thought about how his time with Sophie went. It defiantly could have gone smoother, but after she saw the gleaming city and the goblins, dwarfs, and many other creatures, he pretty much had her convinced she was an elf. His excitement was showing through a wide smile as he walked and thought about Sophie. But he still had to explain all of it to Alden, which he was not looking forward to. The thought had been haunting him since he told Sophie she was an elf. He had broken a serious rule his father had given him. He turned a few corners and came to locker 349. He licked the sensor and opened the door. Now would be a good time to study before his next class he decided, and began to slide some books out of his locker.

"Where have you been?" A sharp voice came from behind his locker door. Fitz jerked back startled and his books sipped from his hands and tumbled across the floor. He knelt down to pick up his books and looked up to see his best friend, Keefe, standing over him. Keefe was an empath, which meant that could sense other elves' emotions. That also meant that he would be able to tell that Fitz had a lot on his mind. A lot that he couldn't exactly share. Fitz gathered his books and shut his door. He was already a little flustered from being so late and Keefe wasn't helping.

"Whoa. What's up with you? Your emotions are all over the place." He said as he fanned the air to get a better reading of Fitz's emotions.

Fitz glared at his friend and began walking towards the study hall.

"Let's see," Keefe began as he walked along beside him and placed a hand on his arm. "I'm getting some frustration, probably from me. Some nervousness, don't know where that's coming from, probably a girl. Panic? Or maybe that's just excitement. Whoa, that's weird-"

"Don't you have a class to be in?" Fitz stopped and turned to him.

"Ditching." He replied simply with a shrug.

"Figures." Fitz said under his breath as he turned away and began walking faster than before.

"Wait, Fitz." Keefe called as he jogged up. "Don't you know how lonely it gets out here? I mean, it can be hard being the bad boy sometimes. Plus, I'd like to know which girl got you feeling so weird." He flashed his signature smirk at Fitz.

Fitz sighed as he stopped and turned back to Keefe. "Look I've got a lot on my mind from what happened this morning-" The words burst out of him before he could stop himself. Keefe stared at him with an eyebrow raised.

"I knew it!" Keefe hooted at him. "It was a girl, wasn't it!? What'd she say? Did she ask you to hang out or something? Or was she asking about your best friend with the awesome hair?"

"Keefe, it wasn't a girl, I promise. My dad had my on another mission." Keefe opened his mouth to ask more questions but he began before Keefe could talk again. "And I'm _not_ allowed to talk about it. Remember?"

"Yeah, yeah. 'Dad has me helping with his work again and it's top secret, so don't ask any questions.'" Keefe said mimicking Fitz's voice and accent perfectly, yet sarcastically. "But then I'm not on top of things. And you know how much I like to know secrets, especially juicy ones! Besides, it's not like I would tell anyone."

"Yeah, right." Fitz said rolling his eyes. "Like that's never happened." He could remember many times when Keefe would share things with people Fitz did not want them knowing. So he knew secret sharing with Keefe was a tricky subject. "Anyway, I need to get to studying. I have Telepathy next and I want to be prepared." He said as he continued down the hall. "Oh, and you probably shouldn't expect to see me tomorrow either. At least not most of the day." He called over his shoulder.

"Okay," Keefe shouted back as he came to a bend. "But this conversation isn't over!" Fitz just rolled his eyes with a smile at his friends insisting tone as he picked up his pace and headed towards study hall.

"You what?!" Alden exclaimed as Fitz explained what had happened earlier that day. He had been avoiding his father all evening, putting off what Alden had to be told. Fitz knew he had to tell him, but the dread was setting him back. Alden had eventually pulled him into his office to ask him about what happened in the Forbidden city that morning. He had told him everything. Where he found Sophie, the car accident, leaping her to the lost cities. He even told his father about her brown eyes and how he couldn't read her thoughts.

"So let me get this straight," Alden began. Fitz's father was usually very patient and gentle, but Fitz could tell he was pushing those attributes. "First you go up and tell her about your Telepathy, then you chase her down the street and almost get her hit by a car, _then_ you tell her she's an elf and because she doesn't believe you, _you leap her to Eternalia!"_ Fitz swallowed hard. His hands were sweaty with nervousness. "You didn't even have a nexus for her. I have given you these laws for hers and your own protection." His father's anticipating stare bore into him. Fitz looked down at his lap. All Alden did was sigh loudly, lean back in his chair, and pinch the bridge of his nose.

"Look," Fitz finally said breaking the silence. "I'm sorry, but I had to." Alden looked up at his son.

"Fitz, sorry doesn't fix anything, but I'm going to have to trust your judgement on this one. We will have to send her over here to the lost cities first thing tomorrow. We can't risk her calling the police." Fitz could hear the gentleness returning to his voice.

"Where will she go?" Fitz asked.

"I guess she'll have to stay hear for a while, until we can get her settled somewhere permanent. And I'm going to have to tell the Council as well, and I suppose they will want to test her abilities for Foxfire immediately." He swivelled his desk chair around to face the huge window overlooking the fields and purple sky of the fading day. Fitz could tell he was in deep thought. Fitz ran his hands through his hair and bit his lip. He didn't want to hear what his dad had to say next.

"You were right." Alden said after a long moment. Fitz's eyebrows shot up. He was definitely not expecting to hear that."About her being the one." Alden turned his chair around again and looked at Fitz. His expression was softer now than it was before. "What you did was brave, Fitz. But you still broke almost every rule I gave you."

Alden turned his head away. Fitz could see the corners of his father's mouth curve upwards.

"I know," Fitz said as he walked to the door and put his hand on the doorknob. "But I don't regret it. It was worth it." He kept his expression stern and tried to sound more confident than he was feeling.

"I think it was." Alden was smiling now. He winked at Fitz. Relief flooded him. He smiled back and slipped out the door.

Fitz skipped up the steps to his bedroom. He opened his door, changed, and brushed his teeth. The fact that his search for the missing elf was now over was still something crazy for him to think about, but it was almost crazier how easily Alden took everything. Then again, he had always been a soft and kind father, and Fitz knew his dad trusted him. He sat on the edge of his bed and flopped down onto the soft blankets. He closed his eyes and smiled. Tomorrow he would bring Sophie to the lost cities. She would meet Alden, Biana, and maybe even Keefe. At least his father knew now, and was okay. With the dread of breaking the news to Alden behind him, Fitz felt like he could sleep.


End file.
